Is that surface film I spy or just lighting doing weird tricks on the water surface? Also, what are those white blotches in the front in the soil? I like how you can see the HC growing outwards along the substrate...always a good thing to see. Looking forward to a Mini M of my own hopefully in the near future.

Is that surface film I spy or just lighting doing weird tricks on the water surface? Also, what are those white blotches in the front in the soil? I like how you can see the HC growing outwards along the substrate...always a good thing to see. Looking forward to a Mini M of my own hopefully in the near future.

Yes, that is surface film you see. It'll start to level out and appear less and less as the growing matures. Once water changes are at the three day stage ( starting after tomorrow's water change ), I'll end up stirring it up a bit more in between changes.

The white spots is where I was stupid in dosing Penac W - over time it will dissolve completely, but sometimes when you don't dose it appropriately it will catch itself lower in the substrate. Not a problem for anything, just a technique in dosing it.

Maybe I missed it, but have you added shrimp yet? Or are you planning on adding some?

I cycled my tank with some seeded filter media and my ammonia/nitrite levels are zero as of yesterday. I added some amano shrimp and oto's and they are doing fine. Tested the water again and levels are the same. Was that too soon, or should I pull them and wait another week?

I wasn't too worried, seeing how the water conditions were good. Looking back at the ADG/ADA how to videos on youtube, shrimp and otos were added after the first week. Seems to be going a slightly different direction than that. Just curious.

Maybe I missed it, but have you added shrimp yet? Or are you planning on adding some?

I cycled my tank with some seeded filter media and my ammonia/nitrite levels are zero as of yesterday. I added some amano shrimp and oto's and they are doing fine. Tested the water again and levels are the same. Was that too soon, or should I pull them and wait another week?

I will add shrimp sooner or later. Probably by the end of the third week. The reason being is this tank hasn't gotten fully cycled. In many tanks, using a substrate like Aqua Soil, it's best to seed with some old media from another tank of similar parameters. However I wanted to start "fresh," on this one. Partly to show the process, partly to improve my own skills in handling issues as they occur.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mahko

I wasn't too worried, seeing how the water conditions were good. Looking back at the ADG/ADA how to videos on youtube, shrimp and otos were added after the first week. Seems to be going a slightly different direction than that. Just curious.

That aquarium also had tap water used in it: which in Houston is quite high (8.1 or there abouts). Nitrifying bacteria tend to grow quicker in harder water vs. softer water, where their metabolism slows (I just learned that a few days ago, and linked to the article a few pages back). I'm using pure RODI here as I refuse to use tap for a planted tank again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by icepotato89

the nice ADA maintenance stand on a cardboard box made me lol. we need ADA stuff in australia...

Looks to be some kind of bacterial bloom. I assume you did a water change...possibly accidentally disturbed substrate? Not sure. Hairgrass trimmed to open up the left side a bit and keep it in line with the swords. Dosing....I'll have to read some more about the liquid additive I assume.

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Planted Tank Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.